Owing to the continuing illness of actress Anne Bancroft, Signature Theatre Company artistic director James Houghton announced Feb. 22 that performances of the world premiere of Edward Albee's Occupant will be suspended beginning Feb. 23, with shows resuming March 19. The decision to delay came after Anne Bancroft was taken ill with pneumonia and had to miss two weeks of previews at the Off-Broadway nonprofit devoted to new works by a stable of specific writers. Her standby, Kathleen Butler, has been performing the role of artist Louise Nevelson in her absence. Bancroft will play the last three weeks of the scheduled run, which will end April 7.

Signature Theatre made the decision to postpone performances to give Bancroft the time she needed to fully recover from pneumonia. In a statement, Bancroft said, "I love this play. It's an incredibly valuable piece of theatre, and I can’t wait to get back to it."

Anthony Page directs. Occupant began previews on Feb. 5, and Bancroft played the first week of the run before becoming ill.

Signature Theatre Company's Peter Norton Space is located at 555 W. 42nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues). The performance schedule is 8 PM Tuesday-Saturday, with matinees on 2 PM Saturday and 3 PM Sunday. Single tickets are $60. For subscription and ticket information, call (212) 244 PLAY.

— By Kenneth Jones